To Dream in Darkness by. Ann Liang | ARC and ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 0

Title: To Dream in Darkness

Author: Ann Liang

Format: eBook (NetGalley) and audiobook (netgalley)

Pages: 368

Listening Hours: approx. 12 hrs

Publication Date: 10/27/26

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press & Macmillan Audio

Categories: Chinese Mythology, Gods, Fantasy, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & Macmillan Audio for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Two gods strike a bargain that leads them on a journey with devastating consequences in this lush historical fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Ann Liang.

China in the age of brilliance, where gods freely wander the three realms. Amongst them is the cruel and beautiful Death God, who has never failed to collect a soul on time. Until now. For when he seeks out Rujia, the noble god of healing―and the only god he is fated to kill with his own hands―she makes him an offer he can’t refuse: she will help lift the excruciating, century-old curse placed upon him if he gives her a one-month reprieve.

Rujia knows she isn’t as noble as everyone believes. Her deal with Death is merely an excuse to buy herself time while she figures out an escape plan. But when her plan causes the Celestial Palace’s collapse and the beloved crown prince’s disappearance, she and Death are both held responsible. The only way to avoid the wrath of all the other gods is to travel across the realms and safely retrieve the crown prince themselves.

Yet the journey proves far more treacherous than expected. As the unlikely alliance between them blooms into more, and Death’s resolve to kill Rujia weakens by the day, neither can outrun their intertwined fate without devastating consequences: A mysterious plague. An empire-destroying flood. A thousand deaths―and rising―to restore the balance Rujia’s disrupted. And if Rujia continues to live despite the will of the Heavens, this is only the beginning…

Content Warning: death, violence

First off, the narrator did a fantastic job and she’s becoming one of my favorite narrators when listening to audiobooks!

Ann Liang is a must read author for me so I was very excited to get the arc and alc for this book. I started off with the audiobook and I would refer to the ebook when I got confused about something. I did finish off the book by reading the ebook.

The story is about the god of healing Rujia, she’s minor god and the death god, Keran – who obviously is a big deal. Both have tragic pasts but when he comes for Rujia and she’s not ready to die yet, they enter into a reluctant pact. He will give her a month for her to figure out how to cure his pain, but while she has the month Rujia will come up with a plan to escape him. Only that doesn’t happen because as Rujia prolongs preventing her death, the Celestial Palace starts to collapse and the crown prince, Junyi, is missing, and now they have the task of finding him or else they will both be punished.

While listening to the audiobook and it switched to Junyi’s POV, I got confused. So that’s where the ebook helped a lot. I did feel like the pacing was off, it was slow in the beginning but it does pick up in the second half. We learn about how Junyi and Keran’s lives intersect and what caused Keran’s pain. We learn about Rujia’s parents and how she wants to make them proud. I loved learning about the different gods and their world. I also really enjoyed the humor woven throughout the story.

The romance between Rujia and Keran is a slow burn with no spice and it was entertaining because he is a grumpy death god, and Rujia is the first one to accept him for all that he is. Their banter was fun once he opened up more. And when the love confessions come, they are so beautiful, Keran had a way with words and describing how much he loved her but the ending is so heartbreaking. Their destinies are bound to one another, in the saddest way.

There is no happy ending here, it’s a story about trying to escape your fate and the consequences of doing so only for fate to play out as it was supposed to. 💔 But I understood why it ended that way because Keran’s job as a death god – he cannot be escaped.

Final Thoughts:

I love this author’s writing, but the pacing for this one was off for me. I still enjoyed the story about Rujia, Keran and Junyi and how their destinies are intertwined. There is no happy ending in this one, it broke my heart after watching Rujia and Keran fall for one another – ugh, this one hurt, but no one escapes death.

Read if you like:

tragic love story
Gods – Chinese mythology
destiny/fate

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

I Could Give You the Moon by. Ann Liang | ALC Review | Audiobook – 3.5 stars/1 🌶️

If You Could See the Sun by. Ann Liang | Audiobook – 4 stars

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by. Ann Liang | Book Review – 4.5 stars

This Time it’s Real by. Ann Liang | Audiobook Review – 4 stars

A Song to Drown Rivers by. Ann Liang | Book Review – 4 stars

The Tarot Trials by. Katee Robert | ARC and ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: The Tarot Trials (The Tarot Trials, #1)

Author: Katee Robert

Format: eBook (NetGalley) and audiobook (netgalley)

Pages: 400

Listening Hours: approx. 14 hrs

Narrator: Lindsey Dorcus

Publication Date: 10/20/26

Publisher: Tor Books & Macmillan Audio

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Tor Books & Macmillan Audio for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The deck has always been stacked against her.

Kestrel has trained her whole life to compete in the Tarot Trials. Her mother won once, earning a place among the five ruling Cinque—then paid for it with her life, executed for alleged treason against the Minor Court.

But fortune favors the bold.

Now it falls to Kestrel to take up her mother’s mantle as Champion of the Moon, enter the Trials, and face her fate. If she can master her new powers of shadow and illusion, navigate the poisonous game of alliances and lies, and corner the fellow Champion who dealt the killing blow to her mother years ago, she may uncover the truth she’s seeking without losing her head… or her heart. But in the Trials, betrayal is a question of when, not if. And winning the game isn’t about what she must do to win, but who she needs to survive.

Content Warning: death, violence

+ I think the narrator did pretty good with giving voice to the characters.

+~ The Tarot Trials is basically what the title indicates. People fight first to become a tarot card champion, and then they fight each other to the death. Five winners become Cinque, the ruling body of the city, voices of the Gods. During these trials there are alliances, betrayal, and mistrust. The first half of this story moved too slow for me. The second half is way much better with much more action.

~ I didn’t love the FMC, Kestrel. I understand she has had a tough life, she hates the wealthy, she wants to win the trials for her family but she complained from beginning to end and it got frustrating and tiring. She’s angry and bitter, though I did admire her fight but with all her talk of training and learning about the trials, she seemed so naive and inexperienced.

+~ Kestrel is bisexual but she is attracted to almost everyone she meets in the competition, which is fine but I just didn’t believe her. So I didn’t feel invested in her romantic connection with one of the competitors. There is one spicy scene but the romance didn’t do it for me.

Final Thoughts:

I think if you like deadly trials with a tarot theme, you might enjoy this one. I think this was okay – the first half was slow, the second half is better because there is more action. The trials have action, violence, alliances and betrayal. I do wish I cared more about the FMC, but I just didn’t connect to her.

Read if you like:

tarot
deadly trials
low spice

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

White Mountain by. Ruby Jean Cottle | ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: White Mountain (Black River, #2)

Author: Ruby Jean Cottle

Pages: 368

Format: audiobook

Listening Hours: 12 hrs 15 min (approx.)

Narrator (s): Geraldine Hakewill

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Publication Date: 10/13/26

Categories: Young Adult, Mystery, Paranormal, Vampires, Romance, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

In the second book in Ruby Jean Cottle’s dark and romantic Black River duology, a group of teens must face new supernatural threats while guarding the secrets that could tear them apart.

It’s been months since the Silver sisters’ life changed forever. Dusty should be focused on her new relationship, but how can she, when her visions of the future show her little sister in trouble? Something is waking beneath the mountain, and it’s getting harder to ignore.

When an old foe returns with an army of vampire fledglings and a dangerous new agenda, the Silver sisters and their friends are forced to confront him once again. And after a body turns up in the woods, an unrelenting detective begins digging into the town’s string of unsolved deaths, threatening to expose everything they’ve all hidden.

As new romances bloom and loyalties are tested, the group is forced to face impossible questions about themselves and their relationships.

Whatever is hiding in the mountain isn’t finished with them. And the worst may still be yet to come.

Content Warning: complicated sibling relationship, blood drinking

+ I thought the narrator did a pretty good job with bringing this story to life.

+ This is book two and the conclusion of the Black River Duology and I thought book one ended very abruptly. Things pick up right after the ending of book one. Opi (Ophelia), Dusty’s younger sister, is trying to deal with being a vampire. She and Dusty butt heads on a lot of things, but they work things out eventually. Dusty has a premonition that Opi is in danger so Eli, her best friend, takes on the job of keeping an eye on Opi.

+ My favorite part of this story had to be the romance storyline. Dusty is solid with Will, they are happy together. But I was really invested in Opi’s love life. She’s someone who is growing and learning to accept what she has changed into and I liked her growth and the romance that came with it.

~ As much as I love the young adult romance relationships in this story, I wanted a resolution about JD and the story moves a bit too slowly for me on that. Dusty and her friends are trying to keep on the down low but a detective is in town asking questions. To top it off Dusty has the premonitions about Opi and they are all trying to figure out what happened to JD. Nothing comes to light about JD until the very end. I feel like most of the story was about Dusty, Opi and Eli adjusting to being vampires and doing teenage things – like going to a party, formal and falling in love. I don’t mind those things but I did want the JD storyline to be stronger.

Final Thoughts:

I think I enjoyed this reading experience as an audiobook more than I enjoyed book one as an ebook, so I’m glad I got the alc for this book. I did think this was more romance focused, which I really enjoyed, but I did want to know more about JD and I feel like we didn’t get too much of that. Things again moved slowly in this story but I the romance kept me invested. There is an explanation about JD and the dead bodies at the end but I felt the explanation was rushed. Overall though I think this is a solid ending to the duology.

Read if you like:

young adult romance
vampires
small town mystery

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Black River by. Ruby Jean Cottle | ARC Review – 3 stars

The Museum of Modern Love by. Mariko Turk | ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Museum of Modern Love

Author: Mariko Turk

Pages: 304

Format: audiobook

Listening Hours: 7 hrs 35 min (approx.)

Narrator (s): Morgan Dalla Betta

Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners

Publication Date: 10/13/26

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Audiobook, Romance, Art

Disclaimer: **I received this book free on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Macmillan Young Listeners for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Tonight, inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art—somewhere between the hours of 8 PM and 5 AM—Auden Peck will fall in love with Miki Kawamura.

That’s Miki’s plan, anyway. And the plan is destiny.

See, Miki’s grandparents fell in love after accidentally being locked in the Met overnight in 1965. And now, after too many almost-confessions, hopeless romantic Miki will finally tell her best friend Auden that she loves him by retracing the path through the museum that her grandparents took that fateful night.

But destiny has other plans. For it’s not Auden who joins Miki on her midnight tour, but Lou McSweeney—the world’s most jaded cynic, and Miki’s ex. How can she possibly confess her feelings for Auden when she’s stuck sparring with this arrogant jerk? And is it possible that her original plan was not destiny’s true course after all?

Content Warning: divorce, strained family relationships

+ Miki has a plan to tell her best friend Auden that she has been in love with him for awhile now. Her plan is to follow the story of how her grandparents fell in love in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She thinks this is a foolproof plan and once she confesses, he will also love her back. But plans go awry when she is task to take her ex-fling, Lou, on a tour of the museum.

+ The narrator for this book had a very clear voice and I think she did a fantastic job bringing the story to life.

+ I loved how Miki is a lover of art! I learned a few things and even made me remember the one time I went to the Met years ago. It’s such a beautiful museum and all of it is conveyed in this story. Miki not only is a lover of art, but also talks about her grandma’s experiences as a Japanese-American during World War II and being put in a camp. I love how Miki tied art and life experiences together.

+~ So when Lou, Miki’s ex comes into the story, I kind of already knew where this was going. And everything happens in a whole night spent at the Museum – which I can imagine is very magical, but she does go from being in love with Auden and ready to confess to him to falling for Lou by morning. I’m not mad about it, and I did like her and Lou together, I thought their interactions were funny but we really got no feel for Auden at all.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this audiobook was such a fun listening experience and I would totally watch this if it ever became a movie. It’s got appreciate for art, and NYC, a girl who is a romantic, a second chance romance, and it even touches on deeper topics like Japanese-American history and even some complicated family relationships. Overall, I thought this was a cute story and it’s a quick read also.

Read if you like:

young adult romance
art
second chance romance

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Bloodbound by. J.A. Good | ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: Bloodbound (The Scrolls of the Eshani, #1)

Author: J.A. Good

Pages: 465

Format: audiobook

Listening Hours: 16 hours (approx.)

Narrator (s): Ri Paige

Publisher: Tantor Media

Publication Date: 10/6/26

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy

Six strangers. One soul-bound Ring. No way out.

Isara Virelle has spent her entire life avoiding people. Unfortunately, becoming Eshani means binding your soul to five of them.

When the Binding Ceremony assigns her to Ring Six—the most elite fighting unit in Veryuun—Isa is forced into the last place she wants to surrounded by strangers who can hear her thoughts, feel her emotions, and know her secrets. Worst of all, their commander is Niko Veyshar.

Feared across the continent as Rathvenorn’s deadliest weapon, Niko is everything Isa has been taught to hate. Cold. Dangerous. Untouchable. And now they’re bound together.

As political tensions rise between nations and whispers of forgotten gods begin to spread, cracks appear within Ring Six. Ancient powers stir beneath the surface, forbidden magic awakens in Isa’s blood, and the bond tying her to her team may be unraveling before it has a chance to hold.

To survive, Isa must learn who she can trust. Because in Veryuun, loyalty is sacred. And betrayal can cost far more than your life.

Content Warning: violence

+ I thought this narrator did a really good job with the big cast of characters in this book. She brought the story to life, and I got a really good sense of the FMC, Isara, because of how she was narrated.

+ This story follows Isara who is curse-born. Her dad was killed by his wife (her mom) and everyone knows her story. It makes Isara a very distrustful, sarcastic and snarky character. She builds walls to not let people in but she’s forced to bind to 5 other people to make Ring Six – a fighting unit who need to rely on one another to survive. Most of the story is about training to be Eshani and in this Ring Six, and controlling her powers. Even though the story was mostly training and missions, I think it moved quickly enough because of the found family element which was my favorite thing about this book. Isa’s ring/her found family grew on me as they grew on her. She went from not having a family to getting a new one and it changes her.

+ The romance between Isa and her unit leader and enemy, Niko, is not the typical enemies to lovers where they hate one another openly. Isa is taught to hate him because her mother was Rathvenorn like he is. But the more time he spends training her, she can’t help the attraction. Plus he’s always in a mask that covers the bottom of his face which adds to the appeal. They get close through training and missions, there are some spicy scenes but then something happens at the end which makes me curious how their relationship will continue. So it’s a forbidden romance that they try to keep hidden,

+~ In the beginning I did think nothing much was happening in the story except for the training but I think there was something happening – the building of the found family, which is very important to Isa in the end. The second half picks up more as they go on missions. I liked seeing Isara grow throughout the story. There is political intrigue, Eshani lore, magic, betrayal and a twist at the end.

Final Thoughts:

I thought the narrator did a great job with bringing this audiobook to life. I love Isara because of her sarcastic personality and it was nice seeing the walls come down as she let friends into her life. I enjoyed the romance too but the twist in the end makes me wonder what will happen in book two. I’ll be looking forward to the next book!

Read if you like:

fighting unit/training/missions
forbidden romance
found family
betrayal

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Scarlet Ball by. Nghi Vo | ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: The Scarlet Ball

Author: Nghi Vo

Pages: 336

Format: audiobook

Listening Hours: 11hours 21 min (approx.)

Narrator (s): Natalie Naudus

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Publication Date: 10/6/26

Categories: Gilded Age, Paranormal, Gothic, Dark Romance

From USA Today bestselling author Nghi Vo, this all-consuming tale of ballrooms and bloodshed weds The Gilded Age with the Gothic vision of Guillermo del Toro.

Pick a face, pick a fate.

Judith Ban, former convent girl, courtesan, and failed thief, is on the lookout for her next identity. The daughter of a Vietnamese adventuress and a French naval officer, she’s no stranger to risk, but she’s unprepared for the secrets of New York’s legendary Four Hundred, or for the women who build their power at the city’s heart through blood-soaked, gold-etched rituals of demonic marriage.

In exchange for enough wealth to outrun her past, Judith strikes a deal with the matriarch of the powerful Howard family: she will stand in for the missing Howard granddaughter, who was poised to make her debut when she disappeared. With Miss Iphigenia Marshall’s face stitched over her own, Judith is white, rich, and about to risk body and soul in the deadly games that determine which girls will find a match—and which will be devoured. If she can keep her wits and her life, her reward will be a husband with undreamt-of power who will be hers to command… so long as she can keep his infinite hungers fed. But to survive the season, Judith will have to seduce a storm in the shape of a man, before the night to which everything has been leading—the Scarlet Ball where the demons choose their brides.

A razor-sharp subversion of romance tropes and nightmare of manners, Vo’s fusion of history and fantasy does for Edith Wharton what her acclaimed debut The Chosen and the Beautiful did for F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Content Warning: death, violence, body horror, self harm, drug use

+ I am a fan of this narrator, since I’ve listen to her narrate a few books now. She did a great job with this one as always.

+ This is a dark story about Judith, who is half French and Vietmanese, trying to survive New York City during the Gilded Age. She takes a job to stand in for someone’s granddaughter, she wears her face – it is stitched on and entertain men, but these are not just men, under their skin they are demon lords. And demon lords need to be fed or else they will eat you. The atmosphere of the balls and wealth with the darkness of the men being entertained was really intriguing, especially when one man, Sebastian starts to single Judith out.

+ There are some very interesting characters in this story, like the Howard family who are powerful in society. Mrs. Howard is who takes Judith in, entices her with money, but also throws her out to the wolves, knowing what these men are. Sebastian is a man but a monster underneath, he is an actual “storm” come to life and he needs to eat or no matter how much he wants and loves Judith, she will be consumed – he was fascinating.

+ The romance is unconventional because Judith is not who she is pretending to be, she’s trying to survive this world of the powerful, wealthy and demon lords. Sebastian though, wants her and even with the strange circumstances between them an attractions builds. I thought the ending and what happens between them was very interesting!

+~ I did think the first half of the book was a slow build and maybe I would have connected more if I read it as an ebook so I could visualize everything better, but things definitely pick up in the second half which was my favorite part. That’s when horror comes into play and I found the body horror quite gruesome, but so fitting for the climax of the story. We watch Judith finally able to fight and be herself.

Final Thoughts:

This is the first book I’ve read from this author but I’ve seen her name around. I think the narrator was great, but I do think the first half of the story moved too slowly for me. I did like the setting of the Gilded Age, the balls, gowns, wealth, debutants and then the demon lords. It definitely touches on a woman’s lack of power in a wealthy society. The second half was great and there is action, a monster romance, and some horror too. Overall, I enjoyed and will hopefully read more from this author.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Dangerous Haven by. Luna Pierce | ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Title: Dangerous Haven

Author: Luna Pierce

Pages: 464

Format: audiobook

Listening Hours: 15 hours (approx.)

Narrator (s): M.K. Blackwood; Kayden Lukakis

Publisher: Keeperton Audiobooks

Publication Date: 9/22/26

Categories: Dark Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook, Billionaire Romance, Series

From Amazon bestselling author Luna Pierce comes Dangerous Haven – a standalone dark romance and book one in the Brothers of Sin series. From the first reckless kiss to a wildfire of forbidden desire, Dangerous Haven draws you into a shadowed world where survival means risking everything… especially your heart.

London Gardella is running; broken, bruised, and desperate for safety. When she arrives in New York City, she’s clinging to the last hope she has left; finding sanctuary with a stranger who wants nothing to do with her.

Archer Sin is a reclusive billionaire hacker—tattooed, brooding, and razor-sharp— he thrives in the shadows. He reluctantly agrees to keep her safe, but only if she follows his two rules:

No touching his computers.

No falling in love.

Archer’s inked fingers rarely leave his keyboards, but his eyes never stop watching London… stalking her every move, sparking a fire neither can ignore. Then comes a reckless, forbidden kiss.

Rules shatter. Walls crumble. Desire ignites.

Trust is a risk neither can afford, but survival means facing the truth: sometimes, the safest haven is the most dangerous place of all.

Content Warning: death, violence, stalking, being sold into marriage

London is running for her life and finds safety with Archer Sin, who is a hacker and very, very grumpy billionaire.

London is from a crime family but Archer’s family was more interesting because they are a crime family also, but it’s a found family. He and his siblings are from foster homes, and though each one has their own quirks, one even being a little insane, I loved their interactions. Soon London finds that she likes them too.

Though London is hiding out from her soon to be husband and healing from the injuries and trauma inflicted on her, I felt like most of this story was about the dark romance between her and Archer. And in that sense, I felt like the story moved slow and not a lot happens until the end of the book but I did like the twist. Most of the book is about London and Archer in a dislike to like relationship, he’s stalking her every move to keep her safe but the more he keeps an eye on her the more his desire grows. She’s meeting his family and she’s trying to make a life for herself and making new friends. Archer is so grumpy and anti-social but I did love how he took care of her and fell in love with London, even though he fought it so hard. London, is a survivor and wasn’t afraid of Archer or his family since she was raised by a monster. The third act break-up was a little dramatic but that’s how Archer is – so dramatic with his big feelings. I will their spice was spicy but also emotional which I appreciated.

This story is told between 2 POVs, Archer and London, and I did listen to the audiobook. For the most part I enjoyed the narration but there were times the voices just weren’t doing it for me. I think the narrator doing Archer’s voice was grumpy yes but like I said, kind of too dramatic. I liked him doing Seven’s voice for some reason but everyone else’s was just okay. So I kind of wish I read the ebook instead.

Final Thoughts:

I thought this was a pretty good billionaire dark romance, mafia vibes story but I think I would have enjoyed it better reading then ebook than listening to the audiobook. Archer’s grumpy, stalker personality clashed with London, but I like how she could handle him, it made things entertaining. I do think the second half of the book was better because that’s when things started happening and I liked the plot twist. Overall, I think if you like dark romance with mafia vibes and billionaire romances, you will like this one.

Read if you like:

dark romance
mafia romance
billionaire romance
grumpy MMC

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Wretched Divine by. Adalyn Grace | ARC and ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️

Title: The Wretched Divine (The Wretched Divine, #1)

Author: Adalyn Grace

Format: eBook (NetGalley) and audiobook (netgalley)

Pages: 512

Listening Hours: approx. 19 hrs 44 min

Narrator (s): Kristin Atherton; Major Curda; Marisa Calin; Shane East

Publication Date: 9/21/26

Publisher: FEIWEL & Macmillan Audio

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to FEIWEL & Macmillan Audio for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Aurelie Chantelune was born to serve. Raised as a knight in a kingdom ravaged by demons, she’s spent her life honing her blade, driven by the memory of the monsters who tore her family apart and by the knowledge that she’s one of the few who can stop them.

If Aurelie can claim her first kill, she’ll inherit a legacy passed down through the Chantelune a soulbond with Yuriel, an angel whose power is vital to her kingdom’s survival. But when those she loves begin turning into the very monsters she’s sworn to destroy, Aurelie is forced to seek help from the last place she ever imagined. Desperate, she forges a second and far more dangerous bond with Severin, a demon she can hardly trust, but who claims to know how to end the war for good.

With their lives and fates entwined, Aurelie, Yuriel, and Severin must team up to hunt down a cure capable of turning demons back into humans. But the more they learn about one another and the deeper their relationships grow, the more Aurelie begins to question the war and her place in it. With both of her bonded on opposing sides, she’ll have to make a continue to stand with the angels, or risk everything by trusting a demon.

Content Warning: death, violence

+ Knights, angels and demons. The audiobook was fantastic and very entertaining. I loved all the narrators and their voices.

+~ The world-building is great and I really love how the story build and builds into the climax at the end but I did find the beginning a little slow. The pacing was a bit up and down because it starts off with a lot of action then it pulls back for when they are trying to find ingredients for the cure – which is where things slow down but we do get to know the characters more. But it finishes with twists, betrayals, and makes me want to read book two right away. There are a lot of questions in the book about who is the real villain – is it the angels or the demons? They have been locked in war for so long and everyone is tired, but revenge and hate runs deep on both sides so how can they stop killing each other?

+~ Aurelie is a knight and her life is dedicated to killing demons but when her father starts turning into a demon she does anything and everything to find a cure, even bonding with a demon. Thing is, she’s also bound to an angel, Yuriel. Some of Aurelie’s actions were questionable but I get that her motivation was to save her father after losing so many other people in her life already.

+ There are so many fascinating characters in this story like Yuriel the angel with a past, Severin – a very mischievous demon who likes to sing and make wine, Illaria – the princess who was almost Aurelie’s sister in law, and Vex the little vesper who is a big help to Aurelie and Yuriel. I was invested in everyone and some of the interactions were so funny, because Severin is such a trouble maker and Vex was funny too.

+~ This is more fantasy than romance, there are some spicy moments and even some confusing moments where Aurelie is enticed by Severin but also feels admiration for Yuriel, so I’m not sure if this will be a love triangle or a why choose or what. Or is it heading towards a throuple? I have no clue but oh the possibilities!

Final Thoughts:

I enjoyed this one, especially the second half of the book! The audiobook was wonderful and all the narrators did a great job voicing the characters. There is action, a little spice, secrets, betrayal, knights, angels and demons. I can’t wait for book two!

Read if you like:

knights
war between angels and demons

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Wisteria by. Adalyn Grace | Book Review – 3.5 stars

Foxglove by. Adalyn Grace | Book Review – 4 stars

Belladonna by. Adalyn Grace | Book Review – 5 stars

Heart of Thieves by. Jessica S. Olson | ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating:

Title: Heart of Thieves (The Devious, #2)

Author: Jessica S. Olson

Pages: 384

Format: audiobook

Listening Hours: 12 hours (approx.)

Narrator (s): Dylan Reilly Fitzpatrick; Emily Ellet

Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners

Publication Date: 9/15/26

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult, Audiobook, Romance, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Macmillan Young Listeners for giving me a chance to listen to this book in exchange for an honest review!

A cunning thief turns the tables on the feuding brothers who betrayed her in this thrilling conclusion to the Den of Liars Duology, perfect for fans of Powerless and Lightlark.

Lola St. James is trapped in a web of lies and deceit. But that only makes her more determined to find the truth. The truth about her past. The truth about her magic. And the truth about the curse that binds her to two warring brothers who she both hates and loves.

With the Liar’s Dice Tournament now only a painful memory, Lola dons a new alter ego, Nocturne, and creates her own elaborate game designed to lure both the Liar and the Thief into her clutches, certain this is the only way to give them a chance to break their curses.

But Lola is not the only one with plans for the brothers. When a powerful figure from their past comes back to haunt them, will Lola’s love be enough to hold them all together? Or will the lies they’ve told tear them apart forever?

Content Warning: death, violence, loss of body autonomy

This is book two in The Devious serious and I really loved book one, Den of Liars, and wanted to see what happened next in the story. The narrators did such a great job, the female narrator was practically acting out all her scenes, especially a dramatic one at the ending! I loved the sound of the male narrator also but at times I couldn’t distinguish when it was Nic or Enzo speaking.

The world building really goes more into the magic in this sequel and conclusion. We learn about Laurel, Nic’s first love, and I totally didn’t like her. She’s controlling Nic, and making him out to be someone he is not. Lola is trying to help break the brothers’ curse but she has to accomplish this by keeping secrets and trust with Enzo is already so shaky. I honestly wish I had the ebook to read while reading because a lot of the magic and world-building kind of went over my head.

I did like Lola’s relationship with Enzo which was strictly platonic and more of a found family vibe. Whereas it was clear her relationship with Nic was a romance. But Lola is barely with Nic in this book because he is stuck in Laurel’s clutches. Speaking of relationships, the brothers never got along because of their past but it does end cordially and happily for them. The other loose end in the story was Lola’s dad, the crime lord who is looking for her. Things are complicated there but there is closure.

Overall, I’d say this was a solid conclusion.

Final Thoughts:

This one was filled with secrets, lies, betrayal, and some very interesting magic and world-building. There was only a little bit of romance. The narrators were fantastic, but story-wise I don’t think this held my attention like book one did. I think it was a pretty solid conclusion though.

Read if you like:

Den of Liars (first book)
magic
found family

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Other Books I’ve Read From This Author:

Den of Liars by. Jessica S. Olson | ARC Review -4.5 stars/1 🌶️

Hawk and Sparrow by. Ayana Gray | ARC and ALC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Spice Rating: 0

Title: Hawk & Sparrow

Author: Ayana Gray

Pages: 352

Format: audiobook and ebook

Listening Hours: 10 hours 20 min (approx.)

Narrator (s): Renika Williams-Blutcher

Publisher: Balzer + Bray, Macmillan Young Listeners

Publication Date: 9/1/26

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Mystery, Historical Fantasy

Sparks fly in this Gilded Age novel of mystery, magic, and romance by the author of the New York Times–bestselling Beasts of Prey.

Nineteen-year-old Vesper Evans has always resented Basalton’s high society, and the sorcery that provides them with a luxurious life unimaginable to most. Orphaned as a child and rescued by the editor of TheBasalton Globe, Vesper is now an ambitious reporter determined to keep her newspaper afloat.

While covering a lavish society gala, Vesper happens upon a shocking the murdered body of an inventor whose new machine promised to bring the benefits of sorcery to everyone. Several of the powerful magical elite may want the man dead, but the prime suspect is wealthy industrialist Maximilian Kite.

Max soon makes Vesper a tempting Find the culprit and restore his reputation in exchange for a substantial fee. Despite her distaste for Max’s world, Vesper agrees—the money would save the Globe, and the story would be the scoop of a lifetime. There’s only one In order for her to infiltrate society, the two must pose as a courting couple.

Their investigation takes them from the highest echelons of privilege to the seediest backstreets of Basalton. As they unearth the city’s secrets and scandals, Vesper finds herself in grave danger—while falling for one of the most infuriating, arrogant, handsome men she has ever met . . .

Content Warning: death, violence

+ The narrator did a good job keeping me engaged in this story.

+ Set in the Gilded Age, Vesper is an investigative reporter for The Basalton Globe and she is caught in a murder mystery. A wealthy sorcerer, Maxmilian needs his name cleared so he hires Vesper to figure out who killed the inventor that Max was working with. If Vesper helps, she gets enough money to save the newspaper that is her whole life.

+ I thought Vesper was a very determined reporter and Max, her wealthy partner in crime made them an interesting pair. She opened his eyes to the world of people struggling and she got a taste of the way the upper crust in society was living. Which is why I think their sweet, slow romance was really cute. This is young adult and stays that way, there is no steam or spice in this one which was nice.

+~ If you like murder mysteries, you will love this one. Mystery always move a little too slow for my taste but I do love this author’s work and the narrator kept me engaged! So though it was slow, I admired how invested Vesper was into her investigation – it’s what makes her a good and dedicated reporter. I also like the magic element in the story.

Final Thoughts:

The narrator did a great job keeping me engaged in this story. Vesper is a smart and determined FMC, and Max was a charming partner, and there is a sweet little young adult romance between them. If you like a murder mystery and want to try one set in the Gilded Age and has magic, you might like this one.

Read if you like: